Journalist Vijesti first prize at the International Reportage and Media Festival

Journalist of the Independent Daily "Vijesti" Svetlana Mandic, received the "Golden Nick", the first prize at this year's 29th International Reportage and Media Festival - INTERFER.

She won a valuable recognition with the reportage "There are few years for the battle of Šavnik", a reportage that marked the anniversary of the unfinished elections in Šavnik, and which featured the incidents and accidents of journalists who followed nine rounds of voting, after which the elections entered a "dead end". ...

The "Golden Nika" award, which consists of a diploma and a statue, was presented to Svetlana Mandić by journalist Zoran Šaponjić at the Press Center of the Association of Serbian Journalists in Belgrade. Festival director Tamara Popov, journalist Zoran Šaponjić, Festival executive producer Divna P. Radosavljević and RTL producer Vanja Meandžija spoke at the award ceremony.

The competition received 200 works from 40 countries, both from the region, as well as from Europe and the world, from Germany, France, Belgium, through Ukraine, even to Palestine... The official selection was decided by an expert jury, to which Mandić expressed her great gratitude for recognizing and appreciating her work.

Mandić pointed out that it is an honor for her to receive an award at a festival such as Interfer, which has nurtured and preserved reportage for years - the most demanding and complex, but also the most beautiful form of journalism. It is true, emphasizes Mandić, that reportage is the queen of journalism, but we must not forget that reports, whether in the form of a television report, photo or journalistic text, are those stories made from the soul and heart, with the presence of strong emotions that are read later through content.

That her work is recognized and appreciated is evidenced not only by the readers of "Vijesti", but also by numerous admirers of her work from all categories of society. With special love and an authentic approach, Mandić builds each new report that becomes a work in itself, a testimony of life and events, an art of words.

The report "Malo je godina za šavnički boj" testifies to her insightful approach to all tasks, witty handwriting and satire that can find its place in this journalistic genre, but also to the fact that Mandić does not leave anything to chance or forgetfulness. The adventures and journeys of the media team and the monitoring of the never-completed local elections in Šavnik, translated into a text signed by Svetlana Mandić, capture the reader's attention, invite sincere laughter, sound familiar, at the same time incredible, cinematically potent...

Interfer is a unique media festival that promotes the highest values ​​of journalism through reporting, and for almost three decades it has been a place to present the highest values ​​of the journalistic profession, affirming critical thought, social changes and influence on public opinion.

"Gathering the best reporters at the annual review of journalistic works, INTERFER elevates reportage to its rightful place in the media world. For 29 years, Interfer has been awarding works that stand out for their courage, originality and social impact, and deserve special media attention. In the festival, in in the previous period, authors from all over the world participated, bringing original representations of world events and everything that represents life recorded through the works of the greatest journalistic creators," the organizers announced.

Prizes were awarded in five competitive categories: television, newspaper, radio, photo and socially responsible reportage. The main prize of the Festival is the Grand Prix, which was won by the journalist of Radio Belgrade 2, Aleksandra Vukićević, for the report "Architecture of Identity". In her address, Vukićević pointed out that reportage is an emotion that is always needed, especially at this time.

After the award ceremony, an international journalist conference was held on the topic "Positive and negative changes in journalism in the digital age", in which Mandić also participated.

Svetlana Mandić won awards at the mentioned festival before, namely the second award for the reportage "Death hugs and smiles of life" in which she immortalized the testimony of Nikšić firefighters about the humanitarian act of aid during the mission in Turkey after the devastating earthquake in 2023, and the third award for the reportage. "With the heart to the goals" about Goran Macanović in 2022.

From 2008 until today, Mandić has published around 14.000 shorter and longer texts in the ND "Vijesti", as well as on the vijesti.me portal, and three of her books, collections of selected texts, have been published: "When silence speaks" (2022 ), "For myself and for the soul of the city" (2024) and "Talk even when others are silent" (2024)... In addition to the above, she is the winner of numerous awards.